Entertainment

Jack Wrangler, an icon of gay adult films, died April 7. He appeared in more than 30 gay adult films and 20 straight adult films in the 1970s and 1980s. Fresh Air remembers him with an interview from 1985.

Long a standout purveyor of rootsy, direct "heartland" rock, Mellencamp is in the midst of a folksy, pessimistic streak on his new album. He speaks to host Terry Gross about the spare sound and dark themes of Life, Death, Love and Freedom.

Colin Hanks currently stars in The Great Buck Howard as the assistant to a washed-up mentalist. He joins Fresh Air to talk about his role in the film and his career in acting.

Actor Jason Segel stars as an obnoxious best man in the new "bromantic" comedy I Love You Man. Segel also wrote and starred in Forgetting Sarah Marshall.

Actress Natasha Richardson died Mar. 18 after suffering head injuries in a skiing accident. Richardson won a Tony for her work in Cabaret and appeared in many films. Fresh Air remembers the actress with an interview from 1992.

Isabel Gillies grapples with the sudden dissolution of her marriage in the memoir Happens Every Day. Critic Maureen Corrigan calls this "all too-true story" a "compulsive" and "chilling" late-night read.

A new translation of Carlo Collodi's 1881 classic Pinocchio reveals a puppet that's much darker than Walt Disney might have you believe. Critic-at-large John Powers has a review.

You'd have to be dedicated to your work to set yourself aflame for "research purposes" — but author Kevin Conley did just that. His new book catalogs his four years spent following Hollywood stuntmen.

After appearing in supporting roles in more than 50 films, actor Richard Jenkins takes the lead in The Visitor, Tom McCarthy's film about a solitary economics professor whose world opens up when he discovers an apartment he rented in New York is already occupied.

The veteran actor Robert Prosky was perhaps best known for his role as the big-hearted desk sergeant Stan Jablonski on Hill Street Blues. He died Monday at the age of 77.

Philip Seymour Hoffman stars in the film Doubt, based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning play. His character, a priest, provokes suspicion for his attention to a young student.

The actor plays Muddy Waters in the new film Cadillac Records, which tells the story of Chicago's Chess Records, where Waters launched his career alongside Etta James, Chuck Berry and others.

Initially known for his role on the short-lived but critically acclaimed TV series Freaks and Geeks, the actor stars alongside Sean Penn in Gus Van Sant's newest film.

Critic David Edelstein says the new Bond film makes plenty of noise — just not the seductive kind. Actor Daniel Craig, though, holds things together nicely enough.

Legendary Chicago broadcaster Studs Terkel dedicated his life to capturing the stories of ordinary Americans. He died Oct. 31 at the age of 96; Fresh Air remembers him with a 1985 interview.

Jane Lynch may be most well-known for her recent roles as Sue Sylvester on Glee and as Julia Child's sister in Julie & Julia, but she's a movie and TV veteran, with a long list of delicious character parts under the belt.

With his band the Belmonts, singer-songwriter Dion rose to fame as a '60s teen idol, topping charts with hits like "The Wanderer" and "I Wonder Why." The latest album in his long career is Heroes: Giants Of Early Guitar Rock.

His starring role as George W. Bush in the new Oliver Stone film W. is the latest in a series of high-profile jobs for Josh Brolin — including the Oscar-winner No Country for Old Men. He was also seen recently in American Gangster and In The Valley of Elah.